Thursday, May 27, 2010

This week has been a busy week for me. Getting ready for first yard sale of the season, it is an annual Memorial Day weekend one I have had for the last few yrs. It is usually the biggest one.Son came and we took out tables and two loads of totes. Tomorrow I will start to set up, for Sat, Sun, and Mon. It might rain tomorrow so I will have to play it by ear.

While we were at my brothers home I got his power washer, loaded it in the truck and son did my front porch. It turned out pretty good considering nothing has been done to it in over 10 yrs. Next week after yrd sale I will put on a couple coats of a honey colored sealant on it. One more thing to cross of my large list of things to get done on the house. Son will start the front of the garage next week also. I guess we are going to put on new doors, like the original ones that were on it. Things are headed in the right directions, maybe not as fast as I would like to get it done but it will get there.

The cache of the day is one geo-dog Maggie and I found last Sunday while caching in a town just a little south of here. This was the second time I looked for this one, it is right in the middle of a bunch of businesses and way to many mugglers were around. But this time we found it as every one was closed. I think I like to cache on Sundays as not many mugglers around at that time. This one had a neat hiding place as you can see in the pic. I looked around a light pole and didn't find anything, looked over to the right and saw that hanging on another pole and yep that was it.So far this summer I have only been able to go caching once a week, I read some of the logs of others and man, they go every day! The must be "retired" lol.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

THE CACHE WEATHER: Warm but rain the last few days. 70's. Suppose to stop raining on Monday and be it the 80's all next week!

CACHE: This is one we found few weeks ago on the edge of a local cemetery. As you can see this one could have been very hard to find. There could be a bunch of trees and logs that can be potential cache hide sites. That is why having the GSP is a must. Maybe like some of the light post hides in parking lots and out in the open ones, you could find with out one just by looking at the location on google maps. In fact that is how I found the first few caches I went looking for. In the beginning I did not have a GPS. And I still don't have the proper GPS for locating the cache, I have one for driving, Garmin Nuvi, but I have learned to make adjustments and it works ok for me most of the time. In the future I hope to get one for walking and caching.

WORK: I spent most of the last couple days still working on sorting and packing. This is going to be a long, long summer! We will be working on the front of the garage next week. Not sure what son wants to do, make new garage doors, or put up some siding and replace the entrance door that is in ruin. We put it in an closed up the front about 25 yrs ago , so that I could make it into a work shop. Now that part of my like is over, we need to do something else with it.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

This cache I found a while back, it is located in an area where there are new office buildings, a walking path, and some woods around. It was called path xing, so I figured I would just follow the path and when it crossed with another I would find the cache. Wrong! Now these woods are not deep at all, in fact there is a 4 lane highway , the woods, then the offices, and with out leaves on the trees you can see the highway and cars. So I walked around these woods looking for the path crossing, did not find it, so back tracked all the while keeping my eye on the GPS, and finally found about where it should be, in the second pic I posted. Walked up to it and there it was, in all the stacked up wood, that should be a good hint when you see something like that. I took a pic of the camo cache beside my clip board and GPS. Maggie took a walk on the path with me this time. As long as we are on a path she is ok with that most of the time. It was nice walking in the woods and not be afraid of wild animals. lol.

WORK SORTING:

On Mon. & Tues. I worked in side the house as it was cold and raining. The garage roof did not leak!! A couple years ago I worked part time in a local craft store. Some times after the first of the year the want to get rid of inventory and have huge sales. At the time I was working they had a sale on all the scrap booking items , everything from scissors to paper and everything in between

The sale was everything you could stick in a big brown bag for something like 12$. Now I am a great packer, years of doing craft shows, and you would not believe what I got! Over $6,000 worth of retail for only $300. I sold off a lot of it, but still have tons and tons of it left. So that was the project for this week, on rain days. I am going to keep some of it to take to Florida and scrap book for family and sell the rest at yrd and flea sale. I am not even 1/2 done sorting and I have it all over the dinning room. I have to figure out where to store what I want to take with me. I emptied three trunks I kept most of it in.

Today I painted up a load of Americana to take to Volant and see if I can wholesale it to one of my store owner buddies. I will take a pic when I get it all done. Also mowed the yard and hung out a load of laundry. I love to hang out close on a line!

Monday, May 17, 2010

ON THE ROOF WEATHER: Weekend weather was great, sunny 70 just right for working

today, cool and rain.

The cache of the day was one we found on Mothers Day Sunday, a nice easy cache, in a local cemetery. You can see old s tones, since caches placed in cemeteries are along the edge mostly you see the old old stones, some so old the names are worn off by the elements. It is very interesting to see the old stones way back to the 1700's. I haven't seen any old than that. I was looking all around the base of the tree, that is usually where they are hid, finally found it hanging in front of my face.

Son got a lot done on the garage this weekend, a pic of him on the roof and a pic of patio / work space. We hit the basement with a big hit this weekend. Took two truck loads of lumber( mostly scraps from my wood working days ) out ! When we looked at it in a big pile I couldn't imagine that all of it was in the basement. Unbelievable what we cram in our spaces! Also found water leakage not good :( I don't know how much I will get done today, tired and lazy feeling. But I will work on something, maybe more packing up one for sale, two keep, three throw away. A box for everything! Some day this will be all done! Then what will I do??? lol

Friday, May 14, 2010

THE CACHEWEATHER : TEMP 70 Some sun and clouds, expecting storms. But looks like a nice weekend coming up maybe get garage done.

BIRD :The first pic is something you don't see walking down your street very often I have lived here 33 yrs and have not seen one. Did see a small bear a few yrs ago. It was strange about the bear, the cops came looked and said leave it alone (it was up a neighbors tree) it will go away. I was worried about kids and pets but it did come down and lumber away.

The ring neck pheasant I seen the other day, I kept tyring to get a better pic but it just would not stay still lol.

TODAYS CACHE :The cache is one I found a few weeks ago, it was out in and open field area, only one lonely tree, on a dirt road. It was obvious where it was. This was listed for everyone on the web site, but just yesterday I seen it was change to premium member's only, those who pay to use the web site the also get other benefits.I don't know why the changed it.

The last few days I have been working in basement (still) I have a bunch of lumber and scraps to get out, hope to do that this weekend. Today did a load of laundry to hang out and hope for the rain not to show up. So far so good. I think most of this afternoon will be spent working in the dining room clearing out the computer desk and a lot of paper work to destroy I don't need anymore. I am tired of carrying boxes and bags up and down stairs so will take it easy today. But still get something done. I do not see a light at the end of the tunnel yet, not by a long shot, but things are getting accomplished. Progress! If I stop and think about all I have gotten done over the last two years, it is a big accomplishment, so I will go with that loll.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

The cache of the day is one we found on Sunday. It was on a paved bike/walking trail, not far from where my son lives. There are about 5 or 6 on this trail, the first one I did not find I think it was in the woods a little to far for me to leave Maggie on the trail, as she doesn't like to go in the woods. I don't like to leave her alone. The second one along the trail is the one I took pic's of. Trees made the GPS jump around but I finally found it, using the hint on the web site about a log, but believe me there were lots of logs lying around. I was a green camo'ed plastic jar gal size I look for travel bugs but none to be found this time. By the time I found this one it was time to go eat dinner with son and family. I will be back another time for more.

You can see Maggie waiting on the trail for me in the first pic. You can click on the pic's to make them bigger. She is such a good dogie just sits and waits for me, no hassle at all.

The last few days with all the nasty weather outside I have been working in the basement. Wow

what a job, sometimes I have to go through things twice because I think I will need something or what ever, then go back and say I DO NOT NEED IT! "When" I get it all cleaned out I will put that dry locke stuff on the walls , I did it about 25 yrs ago and it has held up good. The foundations is what they used 100 yrs ago , sand stone, and it flakes over time. This is just one of many many jobs I have to do before renting or selling. I think need to have a yard sale soon to help free up some space. I am going to have a huge one Memorial Day weekend at my brothers house, he lives on a main road to Pymatuning State Park and is a very busy road. Always do good there on a busy weekend.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Nice Mothers Day and went caching on the way to my son's home for Mothers Day dinner.

Had a great dinner, hit the spot since I have been trying to do the W. W. diet.

GEESE AT THE CACHE: they were squawking at me the whole time I was there, I mean really loud! Their nest must have been on that side of the water. This cache was hid on state game lands. Seen lots of empty shot gun shells lying around. The saucer looking thing with straw in it

I think might be for an eagle to nest in. I have seen other man made nesting post but they were on the top of telephone poles stuck out in the water. Our state game lands are really beautiful, this is the first time in my life that I actually got out and walked around in them.

THE DOVE: I got to the cache area, and look around before entering from the parking. Maggie again stayed in the truck. The hint was pine trees, well as I was surveying the plot, I seen a few pines in the area. So I took of, I have to remember to take my walking stick at all times no matter how easy it looks. I walked in and around several large ground hog holes, need stick, and located and walked around all pines looking for the cache. Seen nothing, I tend to look low for caches but not all are low. Walked over too a blue bird house, empty, in bad shape. Then I went back to the start area and walked around all pines again, as I was walking around the last bunch of three trees, I had my hand on the tree and was looking down at the ground, and when I look up this is what I saw right in front of my face, startled me a little. I knew right away it was fake and was the cache! What a fun container! It is aways a delight to find things like this after looking and looking what seems like forever but was only about 15 min. This is only one of about three unique containers that I have come across. One that stands out was a peanut butter jar covered with bark to look like a mini log, was very real looking a good camo job. Back to the dove, when I walked around to the front I seen the white tube sticking out with the log in it. Took the log out and signed it , said good bye to geese and was off to my next quest.

In all I found 3 of 4 while on my way to son's.

It is suppose to be cool and rainy this week so might not get much work done to finish up the garage roof. Guess that means work in side for me. I will be so glad when this is all done, but I must remind myself its not getting done by itself!

Friday, May 7, 2010

Maggie and I went caching today, after making a meat loaf for dinner time. We went to the west side of the Shenango Dam and to the Ohio line. All the caches were in the woods, so Maggie waited in the car. I am afraid of her getting ticks and besides she doesn't like to go in the wood or brush. We went in search of 5 caches and found 4 not bad. I am not going to blog about them today because 1 Camera batteries died. I am going back to the caches and take pic. and 2 I have others to blog about

So the cache of the day is a kool one I found few weeks ago, on a lonely back road, dirt road no less. The hint for this cache was "chair" and in the pic above you can see why. Actually there was 2 of these chairs and some other trash, they just hid cache under chair against a tree. I don't think the owner of the cache was the trasher. I took some trash out with me. The cache was a little in the woods by one of those gas wells.

One thing that amazes me is all the trash I run across while caching, from the road you can not see it all and don't realize its there. Why are people so sloppy. It really really bad out there, the caching community have a slogan : CITO Cache In Trash Out. I try to take out as much as I can when I am out and about.

The other pic I posted is and interesting thing I saw while caching last week, every where I went I kept smelling this sweet smell, I was looking all around for a lilac bush, but none were seen. Finally after a few miles and caches I looked and seen this giant bush, on further inspection I figured out it was a honeysuckle bush and they seem to be all over the place this year. Must be because of the wonderful spring we are having.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

The first pic is birds that come around the neighborhood in Florida. The seem to make the rounds, as every day you see them in someone else's yard. They eat bugs and such in the yards They are such neat birds, so cute.

There is a small park close by where they play baseball, and it has a couple small ponds. There is a flock of these birds ( name Ibis ) that hang around there. Maggie and I would go there to eat some lunch and feed these birds several times a week. When we would pull up to park the would come running up and surround the truck. It is so funny, I guess they have grown accustomed to the free hand outs they get there, and they seem to be there around lunch time only, when everyone is on lunch break.

The second pic is the cache of the day. It was in Woodbine GA. I found it on the way back from FL. It is a typical lamp post , parking lot cach. This one was behind a out of business Burger King.

Judy left a comment on yesterdays post asking what a muggler was. Answer:

Muggle: (or muggler) A non-geocacher

I guess there is muggle in Harry Potter but that is not where muggle started I read about it somewhere and can't remember but it was before HP.

Today son came back and worked on the garage some more we hope to get it done this week, cleaned out and the we can start to clear out the basement. I am so happy that he is helping me I don't know what I would have done if it wasn't for him helping.

Here are a few terms used in the geocaching world.

DNF" is an acronym for "Did Not Find""FTF" is an acronym for "First To Find”"ICT" is an acronym for "Ivy Covered Tree","LPC" is an acronym for "Lamp Post Cache","NCP" is an acronym for "Non-Caching Proletariat", used in logs to describe "Muggles""TFTC" is one of the more commonly used acronyms, standing for "Thanks For The Cache". "TFTH" is "Thanks For The Hunt" "TNLN" is an acronym for "Took Nothing, Left Nothing""SL" is an acronym for "Signed Log""GZ" is an acronym for "Ground Zero" or "Geo-zone" "CITO" is "an acronym for "Cache In Trash Out" and refers to picking up trash on the hunt."GPSr" is an acronym for "GPS receiverMuggle: (or muggler) A non-geocacher Thats all for now , stay tuned see what tomorrow brings.

Monday, May 3, 2010

Today's cache is one we found yesterday, sort of in the rain. I got tired of sitting around waiting for the rain to come, it was dark with clouds all day, so about 3pm we went out. This one was in a cemetery. I got there and wouldn't you know it there were mugglers all over the place, what the heck were they doing out on rainy day. I think that maybe a couple were cachers, they had the road in the cemetery blocked (they are skinny) so I just backed up and left in search of another cache which I did not find. When I came back to this one all was clear for me to find and I did!

It was not too hard to find, when I went in to the wooded area the right way, sometimes I take the hard way in. It was fun to find. The hint was don't forget to sign the LOG.

I decided that while I was out caching I would try and find at least one interesting thing to show and blog about. This one was this tiny house in the cemetery, at first when I was approaching it I thought wow, who would live right in a cemetery! As I got closer I could see no one lived there now but as some point in time someone did. It is well kept and in great shape. And so cute. I also seen a tiny yellow and black bird, I think it was a finch, I have been looking for birds when I go out and about, they seem to be far and few between here in NWPA, maybe they are just getting here from their winter home.

Grammy-N-Maggie

FOUND CACHES BY STATE

THE PAPILLON PRINCESS MAGGIE

About Me & Maggie

I am a retired mom of 2, grandma of 4 and lived in western Pa all my life. Now spending most of my time in Florida with my dad. Love to flea market and yard sale. Geocaching, and crafting on my list also. Had a country store for last 15 yrs and worked 25 yrs in a hospital before that. Now I want to start traveling/camping some